Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Nine Inch Nails was awesome! Again. It's been about 2 years since I saw them in Rochester, NY at the Blue Cross Arena and it was just as great this time round. New and old, familiar and foreign, all the songs were well worth it.

When "Hurt" came on it was phenomenal. There is something indescribable hearing the entire crowd singing along, knowing all the words, coming together as one voice.

The final song ended perfectly, each person stopped playing waved to the crowd and walked off stage. After the four were gone it was just Trent Reznor, playing the keyboard in the spotlight. He stopped, waved and walked off stage. A great image to leave us with.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Fabulous weekend! Indy Car race on Friday and Saturday in Edmonton with my dad. A lot of fun! It was hot, loud, and fast (of course!), and Gene Simmons was the Grand Marshall of the race this year so that was fun too! Already can't wait for next year:)

Fabulous day - crepes at IHOP for breakfast, coffee to go, Stanley park adventures on the beach and a little bit of shopping.

Following all this we had a fantastic dinner at Kiyo Sushi. Topping off the evening was Allison involving a perfect stranger in a sushi mishap. While telling a very animated story she lost focus on her chopsticks and dropped a piece of sushi into her soy sauce, which splashed far more than either of us had expected. The gentleman at the table next to us looked over, took his napkin and proceded to wipe off his arm. She apologized for getting soy sauce all over his arm, shirt and the back of his chair - all he said was "Were you using the chopsticks?" She answered "Yes." and he simply nodded and turned back to his table.

The table after the 'incident'.

I am so glad I'm not this only one that has these things happen, I just seem to always be with the people when it happens! :)

9. The beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains, "...still mostly untouched. You can go hiking without running into crowds of people."

8. Fresh water - That includes our lakes to swim and fish in, clean drinking water, rivers, streams and ponds. "The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway are proud parts of our history in discovering the country."

7. Hockey - Included in "Our Game" are CBC's Hockey Night in Canada -- both the show and its former theme song -- as well as national teams: The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens, Cheers to our women's teams too. In Canada, hockey is "the sport that brings friends and communities together."

6. Health care - Enough said:)

5. Freedom - We're overwhelmingly grateful for our freedom of speech and religion; for our nation's independence and democracy, and for our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "In Canada, a democratic country, we enjoy the freedom to live our lives pretty much as we choose."

4. Our changing seasons - Canadians enjoy talking about the weather and are often disgruntled by the extreme heat and cold. But the changing of the seasons gives us not only something to talk about, but also to look forward to."

3. The Canadian character - You described Canadians as friendly, polite, generous, warm, open-minded, forgiving, humble, welcoming, caring, curious and honest. "It's the people that make a country great and we have a great country with outstanding people -- young and old."

2. The landscape - Vast, clean, diverse and green -- those are some of the words you used to describe our home and native land. "Whether travelling east to west or west to east, we truly have a beautiful country to be proud of."

1. Multiculturalism "From our people, our landscape, our culture(s), food, etc., the very fabric of Canada is a patchwork quilt, full of colours and textures and richness."